LB

Linebackers Michigan

Last Year:

2011 saw Michigan vastly improved at the linebacker position. The struggles at this position were well documented throughout the Rodriguez era at Michigan.  It was quite nice to have some production out of the linebackers.


Who's Gone:

Only one contributor is gone from the linebacker corps from last year.  Brandon Herron had a big game against Western Michigan but saw his playing time fall off drastically to where he was mostly a special teams player throughout the season. 

2012 Personnel:

In the middle is senior Kenny Demens.  Kenny now has more than a full season as the starting MLB under his belt.  He is likely to put up very good tackling numbers and be on the lists for All-Big Ten, maybe as a second teamer or honorable mention.  He'll be one of the top middle linebackers in the conference this season.

In Michigan's 4-3 Under defense they have a weakside and strongisde LB.  The strongside LB needs to be almost a DE combo type player as he will be tasked with taking on more blockers and being stout in the run game.  For this position Michigan turns to Jake Ryan.  As a redshirt freshman last season Ryan played almost the entire season as the starter and was a playmaker, always around the football.  The sky is the limit for Jake and he could become a household name around the conference this season.

There are plenty of incoming freshman who will try to earn their way onto the 2-deep.  Keep an eye on true freshman Joe Bolden who will probably enter the fall as the backup MLB and is likely to be Michigan's starter in the middle in 2013

On the weak side Michigan has starter Desmond Morgan coming back for his Sophomore season.  Morgan, in my humble opinion, was Michigan's weakest starter on defense last season.  He continually got blocked, took poor angles and looked generally like a true freshman...though his effort was always there and he seemed to be around the football a lot.  Luckily, he's not a true freshman anymore.  With starting experience in his pocket and a full off-season of a college strength program I expect a big leap in the level of play of Morgan.  He should go from liability to solid starter.  If he doesn't, his playing time will come under siege from some other young players on Michigan's roster.

Two more players will see time in the LB rotation.  Brandin Hawthorne and Cam Gordon.  You  may remember Hawthorne as the lean, tall looking line backer who makes tackles for loss.  He was outstanding in Michigan's spring game and will get playing time, likely on passing downs.  He needs to become a more consistent run stopper because up to this point he has displayed little ability to shed blockers.  Cam Gordon, you may remember from 2 seasons ago as Michigan's starting Free Safety.  He's now playing a position I described as "similar to a DE".  Wow, I'm glad Greg Robinson is no longer coaching at Michigan.  Cam has great athleticism and should be able to do good things when given the chance but he's battling rising star Jake Ryan for playing time.

2012 Outlook:

Overall, this unit has depth, production, leadership and room to improve.  They should go from a decent unit in 2011 to a very good unit in 2012.  I'm excited about the development of Michigan's linebackers as well as their prospects for 2012.  This should be a very good unit.


Linebackers Michigan State

Last Year:

Last year for MSU was supposed to be a transitional year for the Spartans.  After losing two time All-American Greg Jones and his partner Eric Gordon, there was supposed to be a drop in production.  But the opposite happened.  The LB core actually looked better with first year starter Max Bullough in the middle and Denicos Allen making explosive plays all over the field.  This LB core can defend the short pass across the middle better than the previous group, and is more than adequate at stopping the run.  The group is good at attacking sideline to sideline and Max has been able to direct both the defensive line and the linebackers for quick defensive changes.  As if you need more proof that they are athletic: 

(good way to get a sack)

Who's Gone:

No one.  This puts a smile on my face.

2012 Personnel:

Denicos Allen is one of those guys that is easy to miss on the football field.  He is only 5-10 and 218.  However, once the game is started you cant help but notice him.  Allen flies all over the field and is known to attack players out of nowhere in the backfield.  With explosive athleticism and a nose for the ball, Allen has turned the tides in games numerous times the previous year.

Chris Norman plays on the weakside and I like to describe him as a guy that can get end to end in a hurry.  This past year his highest tackle game was against UM.  He is good at covering in the flat and wraps players up to take them down.  I really enjoy Norman.

Max Bullough  is better at pass coverage than Greg Jones was and you notice that in the amount of times teams pass short 5 yarders over us.  Along with that however, is the fact that our DL has been getting more pressure on and allowing Bullough to be in pass coverage more, as opposed to the constand blitz.  Bullough's ability to hit is not be overlooked.  He is a big kid and will stick anyone in the middle.  He is less explosive than Allen or Norman but is the leader on defense.  When out there you can tell he loves playing the game.  Along with that, he went to the same high school as Pat and I.  Max had 89 tackles last year with 7 tackles for loss. This tackle total should continue and I would expect Max to add a few INTs into the mix

From here there is a varied group of young and talented players led by Darien Harris, Taiwan Jones and TyQuan Hammock. Kyler Elsworth saw some serious action last year including a blocked punt against Wisconsin. Steve Gardiner is another player that will see action. Finally Ed Davis is a RS frosh that will see times on special teams.


2012 Outlook:

This looks to be the strength of the defense in my opinion.  The defense ends are a very strong unit for the Spartans but the LBs are that much better and deeper.  This unit can keep rolling lines at you to keep players fresh or leave their starters on the field (Bullough, Allen, Norman) and lock you up.  I expect this unit to lead the team to victories in tight games.  Look for Darien Harris to get a good amount of playing time and Kyler Elsworth to continue to impress both on special teams and in the time he gets at the LB spot. Taiwan Jones is another player to keep an eye on.  This unit is critical in stopping a player like Denard and is the biggest reason for our success against Michigan lately.  The linebackers will face a number of quarterbacks that are more than capable of running and will be tested throughout the year in games against UM, OSU, IU, NW and UN.   One first team all B1G is an expectation of mine from this group. 

Edge:

The edge here goes to MSU.  This might be the best single unit from top to bottom in the entire B1G.  Anything but big things would shock me here.

As Promised

Espn's roundtable gets to their #10 team.  The discussion mostly is about Denard's problems in the passing game and the personnel Michigan loses.  It's interesting to me they have Michigan rated #10 with the way they talk about the team.  There doesn't seem to be a ton of confidence from the panel. 

Check it out for yourself. 

The Defensive Ends

Defensive Ends 

First up, Michigan: 

Story of 2011: Starters:Craig Roh (weakside) and Ryan VanBergen Backups: Frank Clark and Brennan Beyer both saw significant playing time as RVB slid inside to play DT often. Michigan returns much of the unit that played well (if unspectacular) last season.  

Who's Gone: The Wolverines lose Senior Ryan Van Bergen to graduation, a guy who should not be overlooked as a significant loss because of his consistency, durability and production.   

Personnel in 2012: Senior (and 4 year starter) Craig Roh gets moved from the weak-side to the SDE position this season.  He'll be asked to add weight in the off-season to be able to hold down the strong side in the run game.  Craig has had an up and down career after coming in with significant hype out of high school.  If he puts things together he's a potential NFL player.  Michigan will look to Roh to be play maker this season.

On the other side, it's likely to be a 2 man rotation with  Frank Clark (RS So) and Brennan Beyer (True Soph).  Clark was a less heralded recruit out of OSU pipeline Cleveland Glenville who has elite athleticism.  He has shown spurts of play making ability (you may remember his interception in Michigan's Sugar Bowl victory this past season).  Beyer was a true freshman last season who got playing time.  He came in as Michigan's top rated defensive player and his career is on the right trajectory.  He needs to continue to add weight to hold up as an every down DE.  At this weak side DE position Michigan will look to these underclassmen to produce big plays.

Depth will be provided by a number of young players.  Michigan has bodies but no one that will likely push for immediate playing.  Watch out for the incoming freshman DE's to see if any make their way into the 2-deep as Craig Roh's backup at SDE.

2012 Outlook: The DE unit should be a strength for Michigan's defense in 2012.

ED NOTE: Now to talk about real talent

The MSU DEs.


Story of 2011: MSU had a young group of defensive ends in 2011.  While young, they were also productive. 

Who's Gone: MSU returns the bulk of its DEs from last year.  In fact, I don't think any DE from last years team graduated.  This is a huge plus and a major theme for the entire defense - the total depth.  


Personnel in 2012: First and foremost is William Gholston, a true junior.  I won't get into what UM fans think about him but will mention this from the previous post:  

"I'm skeptical about most of these guys other than Gholston as I think NFL teams will love his freak athleticism." - Pat. 

That might be the best way to sum Gholston up.  This dude is an athlete.  His biggest knock I would say is that he could get off the ball a little better (this was Worthy's best aspect).  70 tackles 16 tackles for loss and 5 sacks.  If Gholston improves he should be an All American. If he stays the same, he will be first team all B1G.  I will take that all day.  Currently he is nursing an injury suffered in the spring game which is said to not be serious.  

On the other side is Marcus Rush (amazing DE name).  Marcus has a ton of potential and is a true sophomore.  Last year he  had 58 tackles 4 sacks and 12 tackles for loss.  The 4 sacks led all B1G freshman.  Along with that, Marcus was named to the freshman All-American team.  Marcus excels at getting off the ball which has obviously helped with his tackle totals (having Worthy and Gholston on your line isn't bad either).  This year, it will be necessary for Rush to have taken a step forward.  Without Worthy on the line to eat up offensive lineman, Rush will need to get used to having more hands in his face.  With Rush we have a guy that should be second team all B1G and cause headaches for teams all year round.  I am very excited to see his game play this year, see if he took that "leap"

A third guy worth mentioning is Shilique Calhoun.  He is listed on the depth chart as the back up to Rush.  He is a  RS freshman which coaches have been raving about since his first practice.  It will be nice to finally see him in action.  The MSU staff has compared Shilique to Gholston based on his athletic ability.  Numerous bloggers have noted that he has a college ready body since he first walked into practice.  This is a phrase that often over used and is perfect coach speak but Shilique Calhoun is ready to push the starters.  With no game time action, Shilique was named as the scout team defensive player of the week three times.  That is more than any other player (one of those games weeks was Michigan week).  It will be interesting to see when Calhoun comes in for spells, how he makes the most of his time. 


From there MSU has Jeremy Gainer, Joel Heath, Corey Freeman and Taylor Calero.  Corey is a senior and has seen action in numerous games, though it has been limited.  Heath is a redshirt freshman that the MSU staff has had praise for. Gainer is a junior that appeared in every game last year - his forced fumble against ND was the highlight last year.  He is currently listed behind Rush and Calhoun but having that experience certainly means he will see time this year.  Rounding out the group is Taylor Calero.  


2012 Outlook:  This is a position that on the top end is very high and overall has great depth.  


UM vs MSU: The edge here goes to MSU. 

Preseason Rankings, NFL Talent

Sparty On (ESPN):

The worldwide leader's preseason top 20 Roundtable previews Michigan State.  Some interesting stuff in that video.  A discussion on the Wolverines should be coming this week and we'll have a link up when that happens.

ESPN's 2012 preseason top 25:

1. USC
2. LSU
3. Alabama
4. Oregon
5. Oklahoma
6. Georgia
7. Florida St.
8. South Carolina
9. Arkansas
10. Michigan
11. West Virginia
12. Michigan State
13. Kansas State
14. TCU
15. Stanford
16. Wisconsin
17. Nebraska
18. Clemson
19. Virginia Tech
20. Ohio State
21. Oklahoma State
22. Texas
23. Boise State
24. Notre Dame
25. Florida

Some quick thoughts:

I'd flip USC and LSU.
Oregon is ranked too high.
5 SEC teams in the top 10.  Arkansas could unravel into shambles without Petrino and Georgia seems overrated to me.
Is Florida State the new Notre Dame?  Weren't they preseason top 5 last year only to have a mediocre season?

2013 NFL Prospects:

An ESPN insider article reveals Mel Kiper's early Big Board for the 2013 NFL draft.  To interest of this blog, he has multiple Spartans and a Wolverine among his top 25 NFL prospects.

Michigan Junior left tackle Taylor Lewan comes in at #12 on Kiper's board.  He would be declaring early and this seems like a projection by Kiper but Lewan is certainly an NFL talent.  He would need to have a monster junior season as an All-American to reach this lofty status.  Kiper has Lewan as the second tackle on the board behind Alabama's DJ Fluker.

Surprisingly (to me at least) Kiper has Michigan State's Johnny Adams as the #14 player on his big board, ahead of teammates William Gholston (17th) and Le'Veon Bell (21st).  MSU has some serious talent to have 3 guys with first round potential. 

I'm skeptical about most of these guys other than Gholston as I think NFL teams will love his freak athleticism.  Johnny Adams is a good player but I never was wowed by him like you usually are by first round draft picks.  Bell will be an interesting guy to see where he goes in the draft as he is a bruising back who still has very good feet and speed. Still, it's interesting to me he's rated ahead of a guy like Montee Ball, who has had such a productive collegiate career. 

Obviously absent from this list is Denard Robinson.  Kiper ranks Denard among his top senior WR's, which seems like the position Denard will play in the pros but is a bit funny since he's never played the position in his career (other than the occasional Devin Gardner package play).  I'm curious to see where Denard can go in next year's draft, I think his elite elusiveness will have some team believing he can be a difference maker in some role. Maybe a third or fourth round pick?

Who's Better?

We previewed the defensive tackles but the big question is who has a better DT unit, the Spartans or the Wolverines? I think this is a pretty interesting position group as it is likely both team's biggest question mark on defense heading into the season.

Both teams have upperclassmen who have yet to live up to hype and DE's moving inside to play defensive tackle. Both teams replace big time production. It's difficult to give the edge to one team over the other at this position. Whereas MSU likely has more depth and bodies that they can throw in there, Michigan has guys who I believe have more potential (higher ceiling). How all that will translate into production is a tough question to answer. I don't think I'm being too much of a homer in saying...

Round 1: Defensive Tackles Slim edge to Michigan.

Michigan State DT's

I will start off with this story via black shoe diaries Thank the heavens Pat and I are not OSU fans.  The second image in the comments is classic.

So here we are.  MSU lost an all american defensive tackle in Jerel Worthy and someone who was getting a lot of draft interest before a knee injury in Kevin Pickleman.  So where are we now?  Your pre season starters are Anthony Rashad White at NT and Tyler Hoover at DT.  For the MSU spring game, these two guys were each a senior captain.  Tyler missed most of last year with a broken rib (he only played in the first game). Along with not much time played at the position last year; Hoover used to be a DE.  I guess the thinking is that Hoover's speed will  be a good counter for White's girth. 

 White is a massive man at 6-2 320.  MSU fans may remember him best for blocking the Georgia FG in triple OT at last years bowl game.  That is pretty much the bulk of his highlights.  White has appeared in numerous games but has played behind Worthy to this point.  The scoop on White is that the potential is there, he just needs to keep consistency up.  Obviously with that size, he can plug holes in the middle.  White will line up at the three technique which is between the guard and tackle.

--With these two, Hoover and White, there should be a lot of switching between positions during games and depending on match-ups.  I know the staff wants Hoover to play at the three technique--

The third man on the list and probably the one to keep an eye on the most is James Kittredge.  Kitt is a transfer out of Vanderbilt and this is his first year with the Spartans.  Kitt will have three years of eligibility remaining for the Spartans.  Out of high school, Kitt was a 4 star DT recruit, Vandy flipped him to the offensive line, and that may have lead to him wanting to leave.  Here at MSU Kitt will be all DT all the time.  People are very excited about this guy.  Kitt was the first DT taken at the MSU spring game draft.  With only a spring game and a season on the offensive line, there is not a lot to say about Kitt.  However, MSU needs him to be a guy that is always playing at a high level.  We cannot afford him to have off plays when he is in the game.

From there, MSU has Brandon Clemons (taken number 2 in the spring game draft), Damon Knox and Mark Scarpinto. All three of these guys are red shirt freshmen.  Knox was twice named scout team player of the week last year. Most of the praise coming to these three that I have read has been directed toward Clemons.  Though with this triad, the future is bright.


PREDICTION

I predict that Kitt will earn a lot of playing time while White and Hoover are both solid at the line.  None of these guys are All American caliber.  However, the starters are very seasoned and should know what to expect here in the B1G.  I do not see a lot of big  numbers, but there should be opportunities there because of our DE's (read here on Friday). White should play most to all of the games and should hit 40 tackles. I would say the biggest strength of the MSU DT position is that it is deep.  There is a good mix  of young and old talent.

Tomorrow

My MSU DT post will be here for your reading pleasure tomorrow.  I had to reacquaint myself with some new faces.  As well as figure out some old ones; where and how much they have moved is a bit annoying to follow.

Did you know MSU hosted the #1 DT prospect in the country?  RECRUITING!

Michigan DTs

Ed Note: This is Pat projecting it, I am just posting it. Hopefully this will mean ill get my butt in gear to have MSU DT up tonight or tomorrow.


DT

Let's get the previews started!  Last season saw Michigan and MSU both enjoy great seasons defensively.  Michigan's defense had a miraculous turnaround from being one of the worst in the country to a top 20 squad.  MSU had a dominant defense that led to their appearance in the conference title game and bowl victory over the SEC's Georgia Bulldogs.  Both defenses were led up front by their defensive line and especially their defensive tackles. 

The 2011 Michigan team (team 132) had an interesting lineup at DT.  It looked something like this:

NT (the 1-tech): Sr Mike Martin with backup Will Campbell
DT (the 3-tech):  Walk-on Sr Will Henninger with Sr Ryan Van Bergen rotating into this spot. 

Depth was provided by Sophomore Quinton Washington who saw occasional snaps.  The Wolverines just saw Mike Martin drafted in the third round (the highest Wolverine drafted) and will need to replace both his production and leadership. 

The depth chart above shows just why defensive tackle is a huge question mark for Michigan entering the season.  Luckily, Brady Hoke and Greg Mattison are both defensive line coaches and there are some talented big men ready to step in and produce up front.

The contenders for playing time:

NT (the 1-tech): Will Campbell (Sr) Richard Ash (So) Ondre Pipkins (Fr)
DT (the 3-tech): Jibreel Black (Jr) Quinton Washington (Jr) Nathan Brink (Walk-on Jr)

The big question that needs to be answered is can Will Campbell finally live up to his massive hype?  Can he at least be a productive Big Ten player?  He has shown flashes in the past and has the size and athleticism to be a standout but his technique and effort are concerns.  Like many tall DT's, Campbell has shown a great tendency to stand up at the snap of the ball.  If he can keep his pad level down he could turn himself into an NFL player.  How often does a guy enter his senior year and you aren't sure if he's going to end up being drafted or if he's going to lose his starting spot and never pan out?  A rare case indeed. 

Michigan does have bodies at these positions.  Richard Ash has gotten some positive reviews out of spring practice and likely will contribute and get regular snaps.  JIbreel Black moving inside from the 5-tech to the 3-tech makes Michigan a little smaller up front but gives them great speed, athleticism and versatility.  Washington and Ash could both end up playing the nose or the 3-tech. 

Pat's prediction:

At the nose, Campbell starts the year and while he has some growing pains he is a solid Big Ten starter.  He won't put up big numbers but will eat up space and blockers allowing other defenders to be more effective.  Ondre Pipkins proves to simply be too good to keep on the bench and gets 10-15 snaps per game by the end of the year.  The other DT position sees a rotation of guys coming in and out and has some issues in run defense but is productive in rushing the passer.

Overall I think this unit will cause some frustration if they cannot hold the line of scrimmage against big offensive lines that run downhill but I think they'll be quite effective against spread teams.   This is the greatest concern for Michigan's defense heading into 2012 and while it is unlikely to be a great strength, the potential for production is there.